Emergency tire chain for trucks



Dec. W47. c. G. LOFGREN El AL 2,433,567

EMERGENCY TIRE CHAIN FOR TRUCKS Filed March 10, 1947 V/crw? 5.41. INAS(wants 6. 10mm Patented Dec. 30, 1947 EMERGENEY .TIRE CHAINFOR TRUCKSCharl-es 2G. Lofgren and Victor S alinas, Denver, Colo.

Applicatiomlvllarch 10, 1947,.SerialfNo.133,590 V 4 Claims. (Cl.152-233) This invention relates to an emergency the chain for-trucks-and has 'for itsprincipal object the provision of a light, easilyportable, single chain unit which can be quickly and easily-applied tothe wheels of a truck while the latter are embedded in mud, snow, orice, in order to extricate the wheels.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the device that itcan be quickly and easily attached and detached, regardless of theposition of the wheels, without the use of tools of any kind.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of theinvention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efliciency.These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is hadto the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numeralsrefer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout thedescription.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved emergency tire chain forvehicles; and

Fig. 2 is a side View of a typical truck wheel, illustrating theimproved chain in place thereon.

In Fig. 2 a typical vehicle wheel of the truck type is illustrated atIll, with its spoke openings at H and its tire at l2. The invention isapplicable to any type of wheel having openings and can be used oneither single or dual tires.

The invention comprises a link locking ring 13 having a round, enlargedchain passage 14 from which a, relatively narrow chain locking slot I5extends. The link locking ring I3 is secured by means of a terminal linkIE to a relatively short length of chain l1, approximately 8 inches inlength. The other end of the short chain I! is connected by means of asecond terminal link [8 to a U-shaped hook member IS.

The hook member l9 preferably consists of a fiat bar bent back uponitself to form two legs, a long leg 2!! and a short leg 2 l, Theextremity of each leg is widened and provided with an elongated slot 22for receiving the terminal links of the chain.

The terminal link l8 of the short chain IT is connected to the long leg25]. A relatively long length of chain 23 is connected by means of athird terminal link 24 through the slot 22 of the short leg 2|.

The above constitutes the complete device. The chain is of the trucktype havin twis ed links, and is preferably of a size having a width atthe widest part of the link of approximately one inch. The long chain231s approximately three feet long.

The chain is applied to "the wheel H1 as-shown in Fig.2 by hooking thelong leg 2| of-the hook [9 through oneioithe openings ll so-that it willextend rearwardly (at the :top of the wheel). The short length of chainI! is then passed behind the wheel and outwardly through the nextrearward wheel opening 10. The long length of the chain 23 is passedinwardly through the latter wheel opening, thence around the tire l2,and its extremity is passed through the chain opening H! of the linklocking ring l3. The chain 23 is pulled taut and the last link which canbe reached by the locking link I3 is slipped sidewise into the lockingslot IS. The device is now ready for use.

The improved emergency chain is not designed for continual use. It ismore particularly designed to be applied to a wheelthat is stuck in amud hole or in snow or ice. It can be easily applied, to the top of thewheel regardless of the depth of embedment of the bottom of the wheel,and when the wheel has been extricated, a simple pull on the extremityof the chain 23 will release the locked link from the slot 16 and allowthe entire device to be slipped from place.

As illustrated in Fig, 2, it is shown applied to a wheel for forwarddriving, so that the drag upon the chain 23 will pull upon the spokesection between the holes ll through the medium of the hook l9. If it ismore advisable to extricate the stuck wheel by reverse movement, thechain is applied in the opposite direction by hooking the hook 19 aroundthe forward side of an upper hole ll, thence passing the chain throughthe next forward hole.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described andillustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same may bevaried, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired securedby Letters Patent is:

1. An emergency tire chain for vehicles of the type having a pluralityof openings through a driving wheel carrying a tire, comprising: a hookmember arranged to be hooked to said wheel through one of the openings;a relatively short chain secured to one extremity of the hook member andadapted to pass on the inside of the wheel and outwardly through asecond opening; a relatively long length of chain secured to the otherextremity of said hook member and adapted to pass inwardly through thesecond opening, thence around the tire to the extremity of the shortlength of chain; and attachment means on the extremity of said shortlength for engaging the long length at any desired point.

2. An emergency tire chain for vehicles of the type having a pluralityof openings through a driving wheel carrying a tire, comprising: a hookmember arranged to be hooked to said wheel through one of the openings;a relatively short chain secured to one extremity of the hook member andadapted to pass on the inside of the wheel and outwardly through asecond opening; a relatively long length of chain secured to the otherextremity of said hook member and adapted to pass inwardly through thesecond opening, thence around the tire to the extremity of the shortlength of chain; and a locking ring on the extremity of the short lengthhaving an enlarged opening for the passage of the extremity of the longlength, there being a slot extending from said opening for locking thelocking ring to any link of the long length.

3. An emergency tire chain for vehicles of the type having a pluralityof openings through a driving wheel carrying tire, comprising: a hookmember arranged to be hooked to said wheel through one of the openings;a relatively short chain secured to one extremity of the hook member andadapted to pass on the inside of the wheel and outwardly through asecond opening; a relatively long length of chain secured to the otherextremity of said hook member and adapted to pass inwardly through thesecond opening, thence around the tire to the extremity of the shortlength of chain; and attachment means on the extremity of said shortlength for engaging the long length at any desired point, said hookmember being U-shaped and having a long and a short leg, the shortlength of chain being secured to the extremity of the long leg, and thelong length of chain being secured to the extremity of the short length.

4. An emergency chain for trucks comprising: a chain locking ring havingan enlarged passage for a chain and a relatively narrow slot forengaging a chain link; a short length of chain ex tending from saidlocking ring; a hook member, said short length of chain being secured tothe extremity of one leg of said hook member; and a long length of chainsecured to the extremity of the other leg of said hook member. 7

CHARLES G. LOFGREN. VICTOR H. SALINAS.

